Rhubarb season und kochen mit die Mennoniten

Aah, the first fruit or vegetable of the season is always a treat.

We have so much Rhabarber,

wish I could give you some.

Thanks to Mennonite ladies,

for the past weeks, I have been busy

cooking, baking, freezing rhubarb.

I baked for the first time Rhabarber Platz

 a recipe from the Mennonite Treasury but is

also the same, except for the streusel, as this recipe in the MGCC cookbook,

also availabe  at their site.

I also made the Rhubarb sauce from MGCC,

had while still warm on my Platz, yum.

 I think I added too much of Dr. Oetker's Himbeer Götterspeise,

there was just this little bit left in the pkg, so I put it in.

Oops!

Hah, that is what jello is called here,  

Götterspeise, food for the gods,

or also called Wackelpudding,

wobbly pudding.

Anyway, my sauce is more like firm jelly.

Or maybe I should not have put it in the fridge?

Yesterday I had a few neighbour ladies over for Kaffee und Kuchen.

It was a gorgeous 20°C day outside.

I made lemon cheesecake, it's like sex in a pan, but with lemon.

I had not made this for years brought back memories of bridal and baby showers

 and many get togethers with friends and relatives.

I also baked Rhubarb coffee cake a common coffee cake recipe.

I use the one that I have used for years

from the WMES,Wpg. Mennonite Elementary school cookbook.

I noticed MGCC has it posted as well.

I made small little forms, baked well in my difficult oven,

instead of streusel, I iced with buttermilk glaze icing.

The big hit of the afternoon was the rhubarb sorbet,

also from MGCC.

YUM!!!

We started off with sorbet and sekt, sparkling wine,

then had it with ginger ale, as suggested on site.

I found this a little too sweet and preferred it with iced tea,

self made of course with little sugar or unsweetened.

We enjoyed one sorbet variation after the other.

I made one easy change to the recipe,

I just pureed it with a mixstab before I

put it in a sieb and drained out all the juice,

and then put it in the freezer and served the next day.

I will definitely make this again.

It was a recipe that I wanted to try for a long time,

which I had kept for years, ahem, ten, from Canadian Living May 2002.

When I first moved here my family gifted me the magazine.

 I looked forward to the arrival of each issue.

Now I finally could strike off one more rhubarb recipe that I had tried

from the list of many good rhubarb recipes.

Next on the agenda, rhubarb-strawberry jelly

then I think I am done with rhubarb for the year.

Well perhaps one more Rhabarber Platz

und dann ist schluss.

Btw, other MGCC recipes that I tried lately and I recommend are

glazed ham and the pork tenderloin with balsamic blackberry glaze.

One more thing,

oh yes the typsich deutsche tradition of hostess gifts,

I received a tin box of Bremer Hachez chocolates

and Rittersport Schokowürfel,

in Spring flavours of Erdbeer and Waldbeer yogurt.

The pretty daisy centerpiece is also from one of the ladies,

eine kleine Dankeschön

because I will drive her son to his dentist appt. tomorrow.

Oh so silly,

really such unnecessary little something gifts,

from people who say we are not doing hostess gifts,

because we now meet regularly alternatively at each other's places,

but they still did.

The one that preaches neighbour helpfulness goes both ways,

still brought flowers,

na ja, I was the cheerful and grateful receiver.

Who can resist German chocolates so nicely packaged and pretty flowers?

I like saving those Hachez tins to pack future little somethings for someone.

 Oh there was my Mennonite from the Germans no doubt, frugal and practical side.